Mercerizing assistant



Patented June 27, 1944 Hillary Robinette, In, Arlington, Masa, assignor to Commercial Solvents Corporation, Terre Haute, Ind., a corporation of Maryland No Drawing. Application June 25, 1942, Serial No. 448,438

6Claims.

My invention relates to the art of treating cotton fibers and fabrics. More particularly, it is concerned with the preparation of improved mercerizing baths, and a process for the treatment of cotton fibers and fabrics therewith.

In the initial processing of unkiered cotton yarn, unkiered piece goods,-and kiered piece goods, it is necessary to subject the same to 'a mercerization treatment which involves the immersion of the yarn'or goods in a caustic soda solution ranging in concentration of from about 18 to 30 per cent caustic. 'I'he purpose of this operation is generally three-fold, to-wit: it tends to strengthen the'flbers, renders them more receptive of dyes, and imparts luster to the fibres. In

order that the mercerization step be made use a of to the fullest extent, however, it becomes necessary to add to the caustic, or mercerizing solution, a material known as a mercerizing assistant. In fact, with unkiered dry cotton, the presence of a inercerizing assistant in the mercerizing' bath, is imperative. Otherwise, such cotton cannot be .wetted by caustic solutions of mercerizing strength. In general, the use of a mercerizing assistant, if eillcient, insures even penetratlon'of the caustic and uniform luster of the ma-,

terial thus'treated. I

Previously, attempts have been madeto improve the wetting and penetrating properties of mercerizing baths, by adding thereto numerous materials of awidely'varying character, such as, for example, soa Turkey red oils, sulfonated pfats, aromatic sulfonic acids, as well as phenol,

and its homologs, with. or .without addition of special solvents, such as aliphatic or aromatic alcohols. Because of the tendency to bev salted out on account of the high electrolyte content of the about 10 and 30 percent by weight of the solubllizlng agent utilized, while the total amount of 'solubilizing agent and 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol that may be used in preparing mercerizing baths of the above-mentioned typ can vary from between approximately 0.35 to 2.0 per cent by volume of the mercerizing bath. In general, it will be observed that ior mercerizing baths of decreasing alkalinity, a correspondingly increased mount of my mercerizing assistantshould be dded. However, for mercerizing baths of any given alkalinity, the amount of mercerizing assistant necessary to give optimum results, may be readily established by simple experiment.

As examples of suitable solubilizing agents, there may be mentioned phenol, ortho-, meta-, and para-cresols, cresylic acid, xylenols, mixtures of the cresols and xylenols, the monochloroand monobromo-phenols and cresols, carvacrol, and the like, and mixtures that are derivable from previously utilized, are many. For example, such jmercerizing assistants are designed to perform effectively in substantially any given concentration of caustic'solution suitable for mercerizing operations. They insure the even penetration of caustic soda contained in the mercerizing bath,

some of these agents were found-to either be usable only for a short time, or to beimpractical 'under any conditions. Some of the solvents emp oyed' volatilize in. ashort time, or under certain conditions are found to be only dimcultlysoluble in the mercerizln'g bath, and, as a result, small particles thereof coalesce into large globules which float on top-of the'batlnadhere to the fibers, and interfere with the/"uniform impregnation of the fibrous material with the caustic soda.

- Ihave now discovered that highly satisfactory mer'cerizing baths possessing none of the aforesaid disadvantages, may be prepared by adding to a caustic solution of 'mercerizing strength, a relatively small quantity of 2-methyl-2,4-pencaustic into the yarn or fabric being mercerized, thus giving higher luster and even dyeing properties to the mercerized yarn or fabric, and, as a result, eliminate the possibility of having yarn or piece goods rejected because of uneven dyeing thereof. Also, bythe use of my mercerizing assistants, the time ordinarily required in the mercerization of cotton, is materially reduced. A

further economical advantage is the fact that by employing the present invention, it is possible to reducethe caustic content of the memorization bath, andstill obtain satisfactory results. Other .additional'advantages or my mercerizlng assistants are that they insure the uniform tensile strength of the mercerized yarn or fabric,- d

all of said mercerizing assistants can be-j'siissolved directly in the mercerizing bath. ther advantages of these mercerizing assistants trea ent of the material to be mercerized is e ated, and that they are capable of being I readily removed from the mercerized cloth in tanediol. tog ther with a sumcient volume of a In su sequent scouring operations.

l iirlie in th fact that the necessity of any pre- One of the most unpredictable and surprising features of my invention is the fact that I have found, out of numerous glycols tested, only 2 methyl-2,4-pentanediolto be of any practical value as a mercerizing assistant; even hexamethylene glycol, an isomer of 2-methyl-2,4-pentane diol, proved to be unsatisfactory when employed in accordance with my invention.

In obtaining the data presented below, the

various mercerizing assistants were added in the amounts indicated, to a 25 per cent sodium hydroxide solution. The wetting-out test employed consisted of dropping a small bundle containing 120 ends of l-inch lengths of unbleached cotton yarn on the surface of the solution of mercerizing assistant in caustic. The number of seconds required for the bundle to wet completely and sink below the surface, was then noted.

Shrinkage determinations were carried out by first placing 50 cc. of caustic solution containing a known amount of mercerizing assistant in a 50 cc. graduated cylinder. A small steel weight was then tied to one end of a piece of 4-ply unboiled cotton yarn, while the other end was drawn through a notched rubber stopper of a size to fit the top of the glass graduate. The length of the string from the weight to the stopper was then adjusted so that the weight just barely touched the bottom of the cylinder. The weighted string was next dropped into the caustic solution, and the degree of shrinkage in 2Q seconds was measured by noting the rise of the weight from the bottom of the graduated cylinder. The shrinkage tests, as well as the wetting-out tests, were determined at room temperature.

The following table shows the composition of the various mercerizing assistants used, and sumabove are merely illustrative of my process, and are to be in no way considered limitative. In general, it may be said that the results shown in the above table may be duplicated by adding the required amount of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol to a caustic solution of mercerizing strength which contains a solubilizing agent capable of dissolving the 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol in said caustic solution. It is to be further understood that the term solubilizing agent" appearing in certain of theappended claims, is to be construed to include any soluklilizing agents having the aforesaid properties.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A mercerizing assistant suitable for addition to an alkaline mercerizing bath, said assistant comprising essentially 2- methyl 2,4-

vpentanediol and a solubilizing agent selected marizes the results obtained in accordance with the procedures outlined generally above:

' 53%? w a t Per a e c e ing on cent Memeflzmg flss'stant merceriztime shrinking bath agiq 18 g. cresylic acid c 5.83 g. 2-rue1thyl-2 4-pentanedioL. 3 4 1 g. cresy ic aci 18g. 2-metliiyl-2Apentanediol 50 3 Sec g. cresy 0 so #5 g 1 0. 50 9 sec 12. 2

g. cresy 0 ac 1.88 g. 2-me1tihyl-i24-pentanediol 5O 12 Sec 2 1 g.cr ycac 2 ethejlene gmoh 0. to Over 2 111111.. 2. 2 ylic 0. 50 Over 2 min" 2. 2 I} 0.60 Over 2 min 2. 2 I 0.50 Over 2 min" 2.2 0. 50 Over 2 min.. 1.1 0.60 Over 2 min 4. 5 Cresylic acid l. 00 Over 2 min. 1. 1

- It is to be understood that the data appearing from the group consisting of phenol, ortho-, meta-, and para-cresols, cresylic acid, xylenols, mixtures of the cresols and the xylenols, monochloroand monobromo-phenols and cresols, and carvacrol.

2. A mercerizing assistant suitable for addition to an alkaline mercerizing bath, said assistant comprising essentially cresylic acid and ,2- methyl-2,4-pentanedi0l.

3. A process for increasing the wetting and penetrative capacity of alkaline mercerizing baths, which consists of adding to the mercerizing bath 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol and a solubilizing agent selected from the group consisting of phenol, ortho-, meta-, and para-cresols, cresylic acid, xylenols, mixtures of the cresols and the xylenols, monochloroand monobromo-phenols and cresols, and carvacrol.

4. A process for increasing the wetting and penetrative capacity of alkaline mercerizing baths, which consists of adding to the said mercerizing bath cresylic acid and 2-'methyl-2,4- P ntanediol.

5. A process for increasing the wetting and penetrative capacity of :alkaline mercerizing baths, which consists of adding from between about 0.35 to 2.0 per cent of a mixture comprising essentially 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol and a solubilizing agent selected from the group consisting of phenol, ortho-, meta-, and para-cresols, cresylic acid, xylenols, mixtures of the cresols and the xylenols, monochloro and monobromo-phenols and cresols, and carvacrol.

6. A process for increasing the wetting and penetrative capacity of alkaline mercerizing baths, which consists of adding from between about 0.35 and 2.0 per cent of a mixture comprising essentially cresylic acid and 2-methyl- 2,4-pentanediol. 1

HILLARY ROBINETTE, JR. 

